I have three little ones ranging in age from 12 to 15, and lucky for me, they all attend the same school. Every morning, we all pile into the great minivan and cruise to the bus stop, where we have odd conversations. I enjoy those times, because it gives me real insight into what and how my kids are thinking and also gives me a change to spout off a thread of wisdom or two. Over the years, I’ve gathered quite a bit of stories, so let me share some with you here.

Nothing but gems here. I had to write them down so I’ll be able to tease them with it when they get older. Seriously, though, the conversations they have are often hilarious. I look forward to sharing more with you!

I’ve been writing professionally for about seven years. The one thing I’ve noticed about my writing and my production of published books is that I’m a slow writer. Now, don’t take that to mean I put in a comma in the morning and remove it in the afternoon, no. It’s just that my stories come together very slowly. Sure, I may have an awesome idea for a book, but to be honest, it takes years for some books to come to fruition.

I wrote my first published book, Kitty Wishes, in a week. It’s cute enough book, but it’s not satisfying to me. I feel I could have done a lot better. But hey, it was my first book and it was a learning process.

Another of my books, Loving Among the Dead, was basically written in 2012, but fussed over and revamped until it was published in 2014. It was one of my favorite books to write and I really connected with the characters. The sequel, well, not so much. We….don’t talk about that much around here.

My quest was always to write faster; to produce more books. According to the “experts”, more books meant more money and more recognition. So, because I learn by example, I started reading some of Amazon’s Top 100 books.

I learned something all right. Many of the characters from these books were hollow paper doll, animated only just enough to string the plot together. For those I managed to finish—and there weren’t very many—they left me cold and bored and feeling like I had just read someone’s second draft outline.

But still, I persevered, purchasing plotting books and outlining books and how to plot quickly and this class and that webinar. I even joined a few Facebook groups.

Then, while I was reading a blog of writing tips it hit me like a bolt from the blue. The words “character driven plot” had bounced around in my head for a few years now, and I really never totally understood what that meant. But in reading this blog I finally got it.

It’s the WHY.

Why are characters different? Why is Columbus different from Tallahassee in “Zombieland”? Why is John McClane different from that sleazy colleague of his wife’s (who tried and ultimately failed to “negotiate” with Hans Gruber? For that matter, why did Hans even entertain that guy’s mess, only to (spoiler alert) to kill him? (Yes, I’ve watched Die Hard again for the fiftieth time.)

Me to myself: Character, stupid.

The choices the character makes in the story makes the plot go where it’s going to go. And cardboard characters won’t cut it.

This was why some of these popular romance books left me high and dry. There was no…emotion, no impetus, no REASON behind the characters’ personalities. They went here and did this, went there and did that. Just…cuz. Oh, and the instalove is soooo overplayed. I’ve toyed with that a little in some of my stories, and I just can’t sell it. (No shade thrown to those who enjoy and/or write those types of stories….it’s just not for me – I don’t judge someone else’s hustle….)

In looking over some of my unpublished stories, it seems I understood this innately some time ago and ignored it in favor of chasing plot.

For example: I’d written a scene where a woman goes into a convenience store. Her ex-boyfriend happens to be there and he starts begging her to take him back and how much he loves her and all that jazz. Suddenly, two armed robbers come into the store. The heroine turns to look at them, then by the time she turns back to her ex, he’s gone, hiding behind a rack of snacks.

WHY did he do that? Easy….he’s a coward. But why is he a coward? Is he a rich guy used to getting anything he wants with little effort? Was he caught in a robbery in the past and this is natural reaction? Does he know criminals and he knows they’re looking for him?

Backstory is important. Not only does it round out characters, but it gives you, the author, a clue to what they’re going to do next.

In reference to the jerk hiding behind the Cheetoes, will he stay there? Will he have a change of heart and protect her? Or is trauma from that past even keep him there, hating himself for being such a coward? If he wants her back so badly, perhaps he’ll overcome the fear and save her. Who knows? It depends on how I’ve built the character and his specific backstory.

I say all that to say, inciting incident, dark night of the soul, rising action, all that story structure stuff does me no good…if I don’t know the character. It’s my stories where I focus more on building my characters rather than building my plot are the ones I like the most and the ones, I hope, offer the readers the most emotional experiences.

Following this, I’ve vowed never to purchase another book on plotting ever in life. (Given the pile on my bookshelves, I won’t have to!) Instead I’ll spend my time studying characters and how they form and/or change within a story. (If they change at all…)

And it’s not only from bad to good either – Take Michael Corleone from The Godfather. He insists “that’s my family, not me”, but during the course of the movie he goes from clean cut military hero to heir apparent. Same thing with Breaking Bad. Walter White snags our sympathy as a poor schlub who cooks meth to provide his family with some money after he’s dead from cancer, and basically turns into a ruthless, driven….killer.

But that’s a post for another day. For right now, I’m finally glad I have my finger fully on the pulse of the importance of characters.

I am not a cook. It is only rarely that I enjoy putting together a meal, and that’s when I get inspired by a new recipe or stumbled upon an old favorite while leafing through a cookbook. That being said, I’m not a total flop in the kitchen – I can throw together a pretty good holiday dinner. It’s just the everyday of cooking that I find a little tedious.

That being said, I have recently acquired an appliance that has made my cooking life that much easier. It’s not a new recipe book, nor is it a live-in cook, or a meal delivery service.

It’s an electric pressure cooker. Somehow these magical appliances have flown below my radar for the past few years. If you had asked me about a pressure cooker, I would immediately recall a scary, hissing pot sitting on the back of my mother’s stove, with a little hat dancing on top. On occasion, my mom would tip the little hat and a plume of angry steam would stream out. When I asked her why she did that, she said it was to keep the pressure fron building up. From then on, I was REALLY scared of that durn pot, thinking if my mom didn’t keep an eye on it, it would explode all ovr the place, spattering the kitchen with ham hocks and collard greens.

Thus was my childhood experience with pressure cookers. I wanted nothing to do with them.

One day, I spied either an article or a little ad popped up about something called an Instant Pot. With this miracle pot, one could cook rice in 3 minutes, cook ribs/meat in a hour and most importantly, cook grits in 2 minutes.

I.Was.Floored. What was this magic pot and how could I get my hot little hands on one? I must have this!! No more watching the stove, making sure the rice doesn’t burn. No more long hours of waiting for roasts to get done. I don’t even have to wait until the meat defrosts! And weekend breakfasts were a cinch without standing over the stove stirring grits.

I say all that to say, if you haven’t yet experienced the lovely efficiency and ease of an electric pressure cooker, borrow one or buy one and see for yourself. Take it from me, a woman who hates to cook, it will change your kitchen life for the better. I truly love my electric pressure cooker!

For our third day of #blogtoberfest (click to check out the other posts, both new and old) let’s take a look at our adult beverages. Today’s recipe is for a cocktail, lovingly named Vampire’s Kiss. Quick to mix up, nice to look at, and tasty to boot!

All you need are:

2 ounces raspberry vodka

2 ounces black raspberry liqueur

3 ounces cranberry juice

chilled glassAdd all ingredients to shaker with ice, shake it up, and serve!Enjoy!

Hey there! Glad you could join me again on the blog. You know how much I love my song titles, and Be Yourself by Patti really embodies what I’m feeling right now.

Writing is a solitary experience, for the most part, which is why many of us turn to Facebook and other social media outlets to give us a little pick-me-up between the stretches of hard work we are putting in on our writing.

And don’t be fooled by our whiny complaints and over-indulgence in coffee, wine, and journals. We love what we do, or else we wouldn’t do it.

But, as with any industry, there are those who treat it simply as a business and not as personal expression. These are the authors who use ghostwriters and manage to churn out a new release every other week (or so it seems!). Meanwhile, I’m sitting here tip tapping away on a story that will probably take me more than a month to finish.

I could look upon these authors with jealousy, disparage their methods, and make fun of their stories. I could be envious of the thousands of dollars they pull down every month and salivate at the screenshots of their earnings. It would be so easy for me to do.

But I won’t.

Patti’s song says “everybody’s got a heart that knows the truth“. No matter what you do, you’ve got to know your heart. Now….I’m not going to lie and act like I don’t want that payout…who couldn’t use a little extra scratch? However, what would be the point? Why do I need to imbue myself with poisonous, negative thoughts, good for nothing more than souring my heart, raining on my parade and harshing my mellow?

No and nope. I’ve got a heart that knows the truth, and the truth is, I love what I do and how I do it. I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m running my own race and working my own plan. And having a lot of fun doing so.

Could I be running my author life more like a business? Sure! Could I write more “to market” stories that readers will snatch off virtual shelves? Of course! But…to do so would turn me away from my vision of writing story for my soft black girls, my geeky gals and my quirky heroines. And that’s the reason why I got into writing: to write the stories I wanted to read.